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Dexamethasone Solution for the Treatment of Oral Lichen Planus

Dexamethasone Solution and Dexamethasone in Mucolox™ for the Treatment of Oral Lichen Planus

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02850601
Enrollment
24
Registered
2016-08-01
Start date
2017-02-07
Completion date
2019-12-20
Last updated
2021-06-14

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Lichen Planus

Keywords

Oral lichen planus, Dexamethasone solution

Brief summary

The objective of this single center, 4-week, open label randomized, phase II study is to evaluate and characterize the tolerability and clinical effectiveness of dexamethasone 0.5mg/5ml solution in a mucoadhesive vehicle (Mucolox™) for the treatment of oral lichen planus.

Detailed description

Potentially eligible subjects will be screened by one of the investigators by asking patients to rate their worst oral pain or pain score (0-10) over the previous week (see Appendix). Those answering with at least a score of 7 (1/10) and that meet all other eligibility requirements (see Section 3) will be eligible for enrollment. All patients will sign informed consent for study participation. Each study visit is anticipated to take approximately 45 minutes. Treatment will be administered on an outpatient basis. Study medication will be prescribed by authorized study staff physicians at no expense for the patient. Subjects will be evaluated clinically at baseline before starting treatment and at the end of the four-week period, for a total of two visits. Comprehensive subjective and objective data will be collected and intraoral photographs will be obtained. Oral mucosal disease will be evaluated using both patient reported (questions/visual analog scales) and clinician assessed measures. Subjects will be prescribed compound dexamethasone 0.5mg/5ml solution in Mucolox™ (ARM A) or dexamethasone 0.5mg/5ml solution only (ARM B). All subjects will also receive a prescription for fluconazole 200 mg tablets once-a-week as prophylactic antifungal therapy. Any subjects that are already taking an antifungal oral medication at the time of the study enrollment will continue their prescribed medication and will not need to take the additional weekly fluconazole dose. Subjects will return for evaluation after four weeks at which time the study end-points will be assessed. If there is worsening of oral lichen planus that requires initiation of new immunomodulatory medications (systemic or topical), patients will remain on treatment, but will be regarded as unevaluable for the primary endpoint.

Interventions

DRUGDexamethasone

Dexamethasone solution 0.5 mg/mL, rinse for 5 minutes and expectorate

Sponsors

Brigham and Women's Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age 18 years and older. * Patients with symptomatic oral lichen planus (worst VAS sensitivity score ≥ 7 over the last week).

Exclusion criteria

* Patients already on topical or systemic steroids. * Inability to comply with study instructions. * Uncontrolled intercurrent illness or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements. * VAS sensitivity score \< 7.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in Oral Sensitivity4 weeks after the start of the trialSubjects scored their worse sensitivity while eating over the past week. This score is substracted from their initial reported sensitivity at baseline. Reduction in oral symptoms of the worst sensitivity experienced in the past week on an 11 point scale (visual analogue scale 0-10). O signifies no sensitivity; 10 maximum sensitivity substracted from the same score collected at baseline before the treatment was initiated.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Dexamethasone Solution
Dexamethasone 0.5 mg/mL, 5ml TID for 4 weeks Dexamethasone: Dexamethasone solution 0.5 mg/mL, rinse for 5 minutes and expectorate
12
Dexamethasone Solution in Mucolox™
Compounded dexamethasone 0.5 mg/mL in Mucolox™, 5ml TID for 4 weeks Dexamethasone: Dexamethasone solution 0.5 mg/mL, rinse for 5 minutes and expectorate
12
Total24

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicDexamethasone SolutionDexamethasone Solution in Mucolox™Total
Age, Continuous80.2 years58.8 years69.5 years
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
12 Participants12 Participants24 Participants
Sensitivity at baseline on a 0-10 scale8 units on a scale8 units on a scale8 units on a scale
Sex: Female, Male
Female
12 Participants9 Participants21 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
0 Participants3 Participants3 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 120 / 12
other
Total, other adverse events
0 / 120 / 12
serious
Total, serious adverse events
1 / 120 / 12

Outcome results

Primary

Change in Oral Sensitivity

Subjects scored their worse sensitivity while eating over the past week. This score is substracted from their initial reported sensitivity at baseline. Reduction in oral symptoms of the worst sensitivity experienced in the past week on an 11 point scale (visual analogue scale 0-10). O signifies no sensitivity; 10 maximum sensitivity substracted from the same score collected at baseline before the treatment was initiated.

Time frame: 4 weeks after the start of the trial

ArmMeasureValue (MEDIAN)Dispersion
Dexamethasone RinsesChange in Oral Sensitivity-4.5 score on a scaleStandard Error 2.5
Dexamethasone in Mucolox RinsesChange in Oral Sensitivity-6.0 score on a scaleStandard Error 1.5

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026